1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to toiletries, and more particularly to a headrest adapted to be attached to a shampoo bowl or sink for supporting the head of a person during various hair treatment procedures.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Hair treatment processes, such as shampooing, dyeing, coloring, and applying permanent waves, are usually performed by the operator while the customer is seated in a chair. The customer leans his or her head back over a shampoo sink or bowl and the hair is carefully rinsed to wash out the chemicals. The customer must maintain this uncomfortable position for extended periods of time, for example ten minutes or more. During the permanent wave process, the customer must wear perm rods in the hair and the hair is rinsed during two periods of about five minutes each. During these periods, the neck of the customer rests in a depression in the front wall of the shampoo sink or bowl. These resulting pressure on the back of the neck can be extremely uncomfortable during these extended periods of time. It is particularly uncomfortable if the customer has perm rods in the neck area since these would be forced against the neck and scalp by the depression in the sink or bowl.
The operator will often support the head of the customer with one hand while trying to carry out the treatment with only one hand free, which makes the process difficult, inefficient, and time consuming.
There are several patents which disclose various head supporting devices but none of which have the particular advantages of the present invention.
Treiber, U.S. Pat. No. 492,949 discloses an attachment for bath tubs which may be used as a seat or head support. The device comprises a pair of semi-cylindrical slotted hooks which fit over the edges of the tub and to which a band of flexible material is attached. The ends of the band are drawn back and forth through the slots of the hooks to adjust the span of the band and prevent the hooks from marring the surface of the tub.
Holmes, U.S. Pat. No. 1,817,625 discloses a shampoo headrest for sinks having a U-shaped bracket with a pair of arms pivotally connected thereto and C-clamps at their outer ends. A flexible strap has rings at each end which are connected to the U-shaped bracket. This device is a complex metal frame structure and would not be suitable for use on present day shampoo bowls or sinks.
Grim, U.S. Pat. No. 4,352,216 discloses a rigid plastic headrest attachment for shampoo bowls which has an oval or circular frame with an integrally molded rigid open mesh panel and a hanger which fits onto the neck depression of the shampoo bowl and is connected into a slot on the plastic frame.
Porco, U.S. Pat. No. 4,922,558 discloses a headrest for shampoo bowls having a web support at the upper end of a pair of X-shaped legs and suction cups at the bottom ends of the legs.
Vars, U.S. Pat. No. 4,546,504 discloses a head support for a shampoo sink which has a rectangular flexible band of plastic material with apertures therethrough an holes at each end. A cord passes beneath the band and through the end holes and the ends of the cord are tied to Z-shaped hooks which engage the side walls of the sink. The length of the rectangular band is substantially less than the width of the sink measured between the side walls.
A commercially available head support for shampoo bowls is manufactured by Head Hammock of Polson, Mont. The Head Hammock device is quite similar to the Vars U.S. Pat. No. 4,546,504, except that it uses an oval-shaped net head support and has a pair of V-shaped webbing straps sewn to each end of the oval net which extend divergently outward and have one element of a hook-and-loop fabric fastener sewn to the outer ends of the webbing straps to releasably engage mating elements of the fasteners which are glued to the top surface of the sink. The length of the oval net is substantially less than the width of the sink measured between the side walls. The oval net also has a surrounding border of a different fabric material sewn thereon.
One of the major problems of the Vars and Head Hammock devices is that the size of the rectangular and oval-shaped head portions are much smaller than the width of the span between the side walls of the sink which makes them difficult to properly position them in the center of the span and to properly position the customer's head on the small head support portions. Both devices have the ends of the cords or straps fastened at the top surface of the shampoo bowl which subjects them to becoming accidentally unfastened due to the actions of the customer or the hairdresser. The customer's hair can also become entangled in the fasteners at the top surface of the shampoo bowls.
The wide webbing straps of the Head Hammock device converge at the ends of the head support portion in a V-shape and excessive splashing is caused by the exposed widths of webbing material at the sides of the head. These webbing straps are doubled over and sewn to the ends of the head support portion and during use, the increased thickness is disposed beneath the head of the customer which causes discomfort. The webbing material also gets wet during the rinsing operation and does not dry quickly. Harsh chemicals are also absorbed into the webbing material.
The present invention is distinguished over the prior art in general, and these patents in particular by a head support which spans the entire width of a shampoo bowl or sink of the type having neck depression in the front wall and supports the head of a person during rinsing operations. The head support is a flexible elongate rectangular strip of open mesh netting of having a rectangular generally J-shaped clip releasably attached at each end by hook and loop type fasteners. A second rectangular generally J-shaped clip is secured to the opposed side walls of the shampoo bowl or sink and releasably receive and engage the curved portion of the clips at the ends of the netting. The clips on at the ends of the netting are adjustable such that the length of the strip between the end clips can be increased or decreased to span shampoo bowls of different widths and the slack or tension of the supporting span can be adjusted for supporting the head at various distances above the bottom wall of the shampoo bowl to provide a comfortable angle of the person's neck. The curved portions of the engaged clips extend longitudinally and are slidably engaged such that the portion of the strip spanning the distance between opposed side walls can be positioned at various distances relative to the front wall of the shampoo bowl to compensate for different neck lengths and head sizes.